公義特會創辦人Ken Wytsma在他的著作Pursuing Justice裡寫下了一個有趣的觀察——我們會用「真相」來描述今天的世界，包括其中一切的破碎和不完美；而「公義」就是描述世界原初（以及將來）在神計劃裡的模樣。馬丁路德金用了另一種方式表達，他說：「道德宇宙軌跡雖漫長，但終將歸向公義。」終將歸向公義的願景，正是我們如今追求公義的主要原因。這種對公義的趨向，就像小鳥與生俱來就知道過冬的時候要飛往哪個方向。又可以說，我們心裡有一種未被滿足的渴望，因此會渴求「shalom」（平安）的經驗，想要經歷上帝創造世界以及所應許的平安、和諧和完美。
活在這種「已然未然」的境況中，也見於與公義有密切關係的兩個概念：愛與人權。當上帝為人類的愛設立了一個標準：「你要盡心、盡性、盡力、盡意愛主——你的神；又要愛鄰舍如同自己。」（路十27），一方面訂立了一個以人的能力無法達到的目標，但另一方面又喚醒了我們的心，我們知道這是真實的、高尚的，是我們所渴望的愛。我們渴望愛鄰舍，也會試著愛鄰舍，但我們同時知道我們的愛有限，要等候主再來之時的最終轉化。所以，即使愛和公義各自的目標好像大相逕庭，但在這一點上二者是共通的——我們如今竭力追求，為要向著最終的目標進發。二者之間還有一個更根本的共同之處：愛就是公義的燃油。沒有愛，公義是冷酷和審判式的。沒有愛，公義也沒有轉化的力量。沒有愛，公義在平安裡沒有終點。這種愛是人性的，同時也是神性的，這愛是上帝救贖、轉化世界的動力：「神愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子賜給他們……」（約三16），這愛也是我們如今追求公義的動力。
當談到人權，許多信徒會認為因為人有罪性，所以說甚麼「人的權利」都是違反基督教的。因此，讓我們先談談另一概念：上帝認為人性裡還有值得祂救贖的東西，否則祂直接再來一次洪水就好了，何必冒險、並犧牲祂最寶貴的兒子？神在創造中賦予人性有一種潛能，使人類除了其血肉之軀外，還是有尊嚴和價值的；也因為神性的愛，能看透現實中的不完美，看到了「未然」中的人性。沒錯，人性因著罪惡而敗壞、破碎和扭曲，但上帝的公義知道原初的人性、以及當中美妙的潛質，因而決定以公義和正義、憐憫和恩典取代懲罰。
某些信徒會認為聯合國於一九四八年通過的《世界人權宣言》是不應該的，因為其宣言似乎採取了一種人文主義的立場。然而，此宣言並不是出於人文主義的動機，反是深受基督教影響，用以回應在兩次世界大戰中各國的草菅人命和大量屠殺。三十條宣言之中，許多都有其聖經根源，而其他也是由最基本的權利所延伸演變而來。而其最根源的信念，就是相信人類有一種生來的價值和尊嚴，我們必須尊重其他人。即或有些人會認為人權是種自私的追求，我們作為基督徒，卻需要明白到這其實是神起初創造的意圖，原因有三：一、這讓我們跟其他非牟利機構在社會的議題上有一共同的根基，我們不需要掩飾自己基督教的工作背景；二、我們要承認，不管人是否認識上帝，上帝都已賜所有人類有尊嚴和價值，因此我們也尊重其他非牟利機構；三、上帝既已這樣賜下恩典，其他非牟利機構也為著公共的善而願意分享他們的時間、精神和技能，我們也感謝他們的工作，因為他們的工作也成就著上帝在世界裡公義的計劃。使徒保羅在羅馬書二章提到，所有人在上帝的審判和恩典之下都是平等的，也有些人在不自覺之中都是在服侍主、遵行了祂的旨意。
許多人權律師都是基督徒。何珮芝是位香港的基督徒人權律師，她多年來致力於為難民爭取權益。她決定以人權律師的身份追求公義，是因為她堅信要全心全意地用她的熱誠和精神去跟隨神。她在二○○四至○五年在倫敦大學學院讀法律時，讀到一篇關於人口販賣的研究報告，發現自己對此課題有濃厚興趣。她受著律師的訓練，加上心裡火熱想要服侍上帝；在她尋索前路之時，牧者便建議她可以成為人權律師，把能力和熱誠結合起來服侍。
她關於人權的大部份工作，都始於憐憫之心。這個人需要幫助嗎？然後她的法律背景會促使她問：那麼法律可以如何糾正這樣的情況？然而，當同一樣的需要屢次出現，並屢次得出同一樣的法律回應，我們就有理由相信問題的根源可能是一個系統性的不公義。何珮芝有機會為難民進行司法覆核，也開創了一些先例讓難民得到更公平的對待。她最大的滿足感源於她知道這是神所呼召她去做的事，而她在社會公義上所擁有的影響力也是獨一無二、是上帝安排她去成就的。
公義、愛和人權之間的互動，為神學、熱誠和法律訓練提供了一個強而有力、有效的結合，因而推動了政府和社會的公義進程。更加重要的是，這樣做能以真實和可見的方法實踐聖經的教導，使「被擄的得釋放、叫那受壓制的得自由，報告神悅納人的禧年」（路四18下-19）。
（聶東尼牧師負責在灣仔葡萄藤教會促進公義事工，是今年十月二十至廿一日亞洲公義特會的主持。特會詳情請瀏覽www.thejusticeconferenceasia.com。本文資料和意念搜集自以下文章，謹此致謝：Justice［Nicolas Wolterstorff］、Justice in love［Nicolas Wolterstorff］，以及跟帝理律師行何佩芝的個人訪談。）
Justice, love and human rights
by Tony Read
In his book ‘Pursuing Justice’ Ken Wytsma who is the founder of The Justice Conference movement throughout the world, makes this interesting observation. He says ‘truth’ is the word that we use to describe the world as it is today with all its brokenness and imperfection but ‘justice’ is the word that describes the world as it is intended to be (and will be) in Gods plan. Martin Luther King put it another way when he said “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”. This sense of momentum that is embedded in the idea of justice is one of the major factors which compels us to pursue it now. It’s as if we have a sense of direction and purpose like a bird’s magnetic true-north that enables it to keep flying onwards in its migration journey. To put it another way there is an unfilled yearning to see and experience the ‘shalom’, the peace, harmony and perfection that God’s creation of the world and humanity promises
This sense of living in the ‘now but not yet’ is also true of two other concepts closely associated with justice; namely love and human rights. When God established his benchmark for human love by saying that we are to ‘love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and our neighbour as ourselves” (Luke 10:27) it set a target which we knew we could not achieve in our human strength but at the same time awakened something deep within us that recognized that this was true and noble and to be desired. We have the desire to love our neighbour, and we may try to do it, and yet we know that our love is imperfect awaiting the final transformation of the coming age. So while it may seem that love and justice are totally different objectives they have at least this commonality that we emgage them now as a means of moving towards a final destination. But there is an even more fundamental relationship between the two. Love is the fuel that powers the engine of justice. Without love justice remains cold and judgmental. Without love justice has no transformative energy. Without love justice has no final destination in Shalom. This love is both human and divine. It is the motivational force for God’s redemptive work of transformation of the world “God so loved the world that he gave his only son…“ (John 3:16) and it is the motivation for our pursuit of justice now.
When talking about human rights many christians consider the idea that sinful humanity is due any rights at all is almost anti-christian. So we begin here with the idea that God sees something within humanity that is worth redeeming, otherwise why not just start again with another flood? Why risk everything with a sacrifice that cost God his most precious son? It is because there was this potential embedded in humanity at creation that brought a sense of dignity, value and worth to human kind which lifted it above mere flesh and blood and because there was a divine love that sees beyond the imperfection of the present into the ‘not yet’. It is true that humanity is marred, broken, and distorted by sinful rebellion, but God’s justice saw what was intended in all its amazing potential and decided to respond with justice and righteousness, mercy and grace instead of just damnation.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 is regarded negatively by many christians as a sort of statement of faith for humanism. However it arose not from humanistic intentions but from strong christian influence in response to the brutality and large scale slaughter of human life in two world wars. Many of its thirty declarations have their origins in biblical roots while others are derived by extension from those primary rights. But at its root there is the same conviction that humanity has an inherent value and dignity which implies that we need to treat each other with respect. As christians it is essential that we see human rights as grounded in God’s intention at creation even if others would see them as an end in themselves. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, It gives a common basis for interaction with other ngo’s on social issues without having to disguise the fact that we are working from a christian platform. Secondly, we need to acknowledge that God has graced all humanity with dignity and worth regardless of whether they acknowledge him or not, so we treat other ngo’s with respect. Thirdly, as a result of this grace gifting from God they are also motivated to share their time, energy and skills for the common good in a way that contributes to Gods plan for justice in the world so that we can value their work. The apostle Paul in Romans 2 recognizes that all humanity stands equally under the judgment and grace of god and that there are even some who unknowingly serve him by carrying out his will in ignorance.
It is not surprising then that a significant number of lawyers who work in the human rights field do so because they are Christians. Patricia Ho is a Christian human rights lawyer in Hong Kong who has fought for many years for the rights of asylum seekers here. Her decision to pursue justice as a human rights lawyer developed out of a number of convictions in her heart to follow God with all of her passion and energy. In 2004/5 while studying law at UCL London she discovered a passionate interest in human trafficking while studying for a research paper on the topic. As she struggled to make sense of her formal career training as a lawyer and her passion to serve God in a meaningful way her young adults pastor suggested that she could do both as a human rights lawyer.
Much of her work in human rights starts with compassion. Does this person need help? And quickly leads into her legal training - how can the law help to right a wrong in this situation? However when the same specific need and legal response begins to repeat itself there is every reason to suspect that there is a systemic injustice at the root of the problem. Patricia has had the privilege of conducting judicial reviews of such cases in the asylum seeker field and seen new precedents established to bring about more just treatment of refugees. Her greatest satisfaction is knowing that she is doing what God has called her to do and that she is making a social justice impact that she is uniquely qualified to fulfill.
The interaction of justice, love and human rights provides a powerful and effective combination of theology, passion and legal training to bring about significant changes in the justice landscape of governments and societies. But just as importantly it can play an important role in ‘releasing captives, setting the prisoner free and bringing the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18) in a very real and tangible way.
Tony Read is the Justice Advocate for The Vine Church in Wanchai, the host of The Justice Conference Asia on October 20-21 this year. We sincerely hope that you will join us in the conference this year. For more, please visit www.thejusticeconferenceasia.com. This article is based on information and ideas gratefully gleaned from ‘Justice’ and ‘Justice in love’ both by Nicolas Wolterstorff, and a personal interview with Patricia Ho of Daly and Associates
